Dateline: December 18, 2003

Two survive crash near Clarendon

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Two Amarillo residents are lucky to be alive after their single-engine plane crashed Sunday afternoon about four miles southwest of Clarendon on FM 2162.

George and Linda Cole were en route from Addison to Amarillo when the cockpit of their Cessna 210 began filling with smoke, according to a Department of Public Safety report. They shut off the engine, and Mrs. Cole, who was piloting the craft, attempted a forced landing on the farm road.

The DPS report said the airplane’s landing gear did not deploy for an unknown reason. The plane hit approximately 100 feet from the roadway, crashed through a barbed wire fence, spun around in the right-of-way, and came to rest in the right-of-way on the north side of the road.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said his office received a call from Federal Aviation Administration officials in Albuquerque at 12:42 p.m. reporting a plane in trouble. He said the Coles had radioed the FAA when they began experiencing difficulty.

The sheriff’s office dispatched law enforcement officers, the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department, and the Associated Ambulance Authority.

Blackburn also said a military cargo plane was also in the area and had begun an independent search for the downed craft as emergency personnel arrived.

Dr. Cole was able to get out of the wreckage on his own, but Mrs. Cole had to be extricated by rescuers. DPS reported the couple was transported to Northwest Texas Hospital with Dr. Cole in good condition and Mrs. Cole in serious condition.

An investigation of the wreck was conducted this week by federal officials. No cause had been reported to local officials at press time Monday.